As the emergency phase of the crisis is seemingly wrapping up, many local leaders are already questioning what changes need to be made to prevent this from happening again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot have this situation where these kinds of chemicals, this kind of manufacturing, is done in a very densely populated area without proper safeguards,\u201d said Congressman Lou Correa in a Tuesday interview. \u201cWe dodged a bullet in my opinion. This is the first shot across the bow saying more needs to be done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet a Voice of OC investigation into several regulatory agency enforcement actions and fines shows a loose patchwork of seemingly underfunded inspectors whose work had limited consequences as the Garden Grove chemical plant was fined multiple times but continued operating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0A4A3940.jpg\")
Congressman Lou Correa arrives at the Savanna High School evacuation center in Anaheim on May 22, 2026. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n
Aerospace Plant Faced Years of Regulator Probes\u00a0<\/p>\n
The facility at 12122 Western Ave. is owned by GKN Aerospace, which helps build plane engines, landing gear and other essential equipment for aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The company declined to comment on this article, pointing reporters to a short statement<\/a> noting they\u2019re working with emergency services in Orange County to help stop the tank from exploding and apologizing for the inconvenience to neighboring residents. \u00a0<\/p>\n GKN\u2019s Garden Grove site has faced a litany of investigations and fines from regulatory agencies in recent years, including from both the state and federal Occupational Safety and Health Divisions as well as the South Coast Air Quality Management District.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2019, California regulators fined GKN over $2,500 for failing to implement an injury and illness prevention program or maintain all of their equipment properly.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Employer failed to ensure that all machinery and equipment in service were inspected or maintained as recommended by the manufacturer where such recommendations are available,\u201d wrote the state\u2019s lawyers in a court filing<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n GKN was called out again for not giving employees access to an injury and illness prevention program again in 2022 according to federal OSHA disclosures<\/a>, but the company was not fined in that instance.<\/p>\n That same year, the facility received at least one violation and a fine of $420 for failing to properly provide its employees respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to federal OSHA disclosures.\u00a0<\/p>\n GKN has faced seven other penalties from the federal OSHA at other facilities across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n Southern California\u2019s Air Quality Management District fined GKN nearly $910,000 in 2021 via a settlement agreement, including for failing to track what toxic chemicals their plant emitted for at least five years, missing permits and using coatings that contained toxic chemicals that were regulated over a decade ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n To read a copy of their settlement, click here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The air management agency has also issued eight notices<\/a> to comply with regulators since 2013.<\/p>\n Two of those notices came just last year as regulators asked for \u201crecords to demonstrate compliance with permit conditions,\u201d and a series of chemical emission records that hadn\u2019t been turned over.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite those concerns, the facility has continued operating uninterrupted.\u00a0<\/p>\n Melrose Industries, GKN\u2019s parent company, reported operating profits of last year of roughly $869 million according to a report on their website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n GKN reported over $4.8 billion in sales last year according to their website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Former Regulator Raises Red Flags on Inspections<\/p>\n Garrett Brown, a former Cal\/OSHA compliance officer who spent over 20 years at the Oakland field office and received a lifetime achievement award in 2024 known as the Alice Hamilton Award<\/a> from the American Public Health Association for his work, said that worker protections are continuing to drop in California due to understaffing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe understaffing has been so pronounced that no one has time to do planned, programmed inspections because they\u2019re dealing full time with the worker complaints and employer reports of injury,\u201d Brown said in a Tuesday interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brown now runs a website<\/a> highlighting the agency\u2019s understaffing and other struggles, noting that inspections look a lot different than they used to.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThirty years ago, a worker who filed a complaint, 75% of the time there would be an on site inspection of the facility,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThese days, even with worker complaints or employer reports of worker injuries, less than half of those are responded to by an on site investigation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In Orange County, there are just eight inspectors assigned to Cal\/OSHA\u2019s Santa Ana office according to a copy of the agency\u2019s org chart<\/a> from January posted on Brown\u2019s website.\u00a0<\/p>\n Representatives from Cal\/OSHA did not respond to multiple requests for comment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Brown said most complaints instead lead to the agency requesting the operator to inspect themselves and report any problems they find.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a totally ineffective way of protecting worker health and safety,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIn most cases, the case is then closed and nothing happens to it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He also said that many of the on site inspections are \u201cperfunctory\u201d because inspectors don\u2019t have the time to do deep dives.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s tremendous pressure on field inspectors and their bosses to open and close, open and close, open and close as many perfunctory inspections as possible,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThis is kind of like a perfect storm for workers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Brown\u2019s claims were also backed up by a July 2020 report commissioned by Cal\/OSHA, which found that many of the agency\u2019s own staff were overburdened<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCal\/OSHA staff are required to continually reprioritize the workload to meet the demands of incoming complaints and subsequent inspections,\u201d reads the report. \u201cThis results in staff working in a reactionary capacity, with minimal time to complete preventative tasks to proactively prevent the occurrence of health and safety violations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStaffing additions would increase the ability to complete preventative actions would potentially lead to fewer urgent\/reactionary actions and better equip staff to achieve the mission of protecting California workers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A July 2025 state auditors report<\/a> also found \u201cdeficiencies\u201d in some of Cal\/OSHA\u2019s enforcement mechanisms, noting that nearly one in three of the agency\u2019s jobs were unfilled and that they failed to follow up and ensure violations were fixed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn general, we determined that Cal\/OSHA did not demonstrate that it had sufficient reasons for closing some workplace complaints and accidents without conducting an on-site inspection,\u201d auditors wrote. \u201cCal\/OSHA\u2019s process deficiencies and staffing shortages are root causes for many of the concerns we identified.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Air Quality District Has One Inspector Per 100 Miles\u00a0<\/p>\n The South Coast Air Quality Management District, which oversees emissions throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, oversees air quality for over 17 million people \u2013 44% of the state\u2019s population according to their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n They employ approximately 100 inspectors for that area \u2013 roughly one for every 200 sites, or one inspector for every 110 square miles.\u00a0<\/p>\n GKN\u2019s Garden Grove site was last inspected by the air quality district inspectors on March 7, 2025, where inspectors found they were operating several pieces of equipment without permits according to an AQMD spokesperson.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The regional air quality agency has faced repeated questions from many residents in Orange County on their effectiveness amid complaints about emissions from the Prima Deshecha landfill and complaints over a crematorium in Santa Ana that blanketed some neighborhoods in clouds of smoke at night.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bothwell_Drone_SantaAna_April_11.jpg\")
Neighborhoods in Orange County. Credit: GIL BOTHWELL, Voice of OC.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/derek_tran_2024-Leopo-9.jpg\")
Derek Tran during his campaign watch party on election night, Nov. 4, 2024. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0A4A4780.jpg\")
State Assemblyman Avelino Valencia speaks during the 2025 Chicano Festival in Santa Ana. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GARDEN-GROVE-CC-LEOPO-2025-5944.jpg\")
Garden Grove City Councilman George Brietigam on July 8, 2025. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n